Hawaiian Airlines to begin nonstop service to Brisbane, Australia

Hawaiian Airlines, which has been rapidly expanding internationally over the last two years, said today it will begin offering nonstop flights between Honolulu and Brisbane, Australia, three times a week beginning Nov. 27.

The carrier will be the only airline offering nonstop service between the two cities following the shutdown of Air Australia in February. Brisbane will become the second Australian city to get nonstop service from Hawaiian, which inaugurated service to Sydney in 2004.

The new Brisbane service will add more than 40,000 seats annually between Australia and Hawaii and increase the total seat numbers by 38 percent.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority estimates that the Brisbane-Honolulu service will generate $83 million in visitor spending and $9 million in tax revenue annually for Hawaii.

Since November 2010, Hawaiian has inaugurated service in Japan to Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, as well as Seoul, South Korea.

Hawaiian also began service earlier this month to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the airline’s first nonstop flight to the East Coast.